The present invention relates to a diagnostic model for teeth and to a method for making the diagnostic model.
Preparation of a dental prosthesis requires a dentist or oral surgeon to make an impression of a patient's teeth. The impression may be of the patient's teeth in the patient's upper jaw or teeth in the patient's lower jaw or teeth in both the upper jaw and the lower jaw. The impression is typically made with a polymeric material that has a soft consistency when the impression is made but that rapidly hardens once removed from the patient's mouth. The impression is a negative impression in that the teeth are represented by cavities within the polymeric material.
Individuals creating a dental prosthesis work with the impression and build a master diagnostic model. This master diagnostic model is a representation of the patient's existing teeth and also serves as a model for any new prosthetic device or devices.
The diagnostic model typically includes a pink wax substrate in order to represent pink tissue of the patient's gums and an ivory wax substrate in order to represent the patient's teeth. Unfortunately, the wax teeth lack the luster, color and hardness of natural teeth and therefore do not look or feel like the final prosthetic teeth that the patient ultimately receives. However, because the model is provisional, prostheses manufacturers have not prepared more accurate models due to excessive cost.